A record 137,000 people made the perilous journey across the Mediterranean to Europe in the first half of 2015, most of them fleeing war, conflict and persecution, the United Nations said Wednesday.

"Europe is living through a maritime refugee crisis of historic proportions," the UN refugee agency said, adding that the number of people washing up on the continent's shores had jumped 83 percent in the first half of the year compared to the same period in 2014.